Feng Shui

Capítulo 10

"Okay, okay, the cartoon is about to start, let's go home and watch it..."

The two children grabbed each other's hands and ran out quickly.

Feng Nian'en took two steps forward and shouted loudly to them, proclaiming her identity: "I'm not crazy, I'm not crazy..."

Seeing that he seemed to be catching up, the two children ran even faster and were out of the garden in the blink of an eye.

"Haha! Hahahaha..."

Unrestrained laughter rang out behind him. Feng Nian'en turned around and saw that it was the girl from next door. At this moment, she was sporting a buzz cut with purple light and wearing tattered clothes, laughing so hard that she was bent over.

"Idiot! Madman? Human trafficker! I'm impressed! I'm truly impressed!"

"It's you..."

"What's wrong with me? Don't forget I'm your creditor." The girl raised her face, glanced at him, and then burst into deafening laughter again. "Damn it all! Kill me! Kill me! How could anyone dress like this? How could anyone dress like this!"

"No matter what I'm dressed for, I'm still better than you, right?" he thought to himself, looking at the girl's clothes riddled with holes.

"Doraemon? My god, you're really something, buddy!"

"What's wrong with Doraemon?" he couldn't help but ask. Normally he might not have paid attention to such teasing, but now, he couldn't help but want to find something to vent his resentment.

"You think it's still the 90s? Doraemon is so outdated!"

"So what's popular now?" He paused, forgot his grievance, and immediately asked.

The girl glanced at him sideways: "Why are you asking this?"

"I...I..." he stammered, "I...I suddenly found these things very...very interesting, so...so..."

"Don't even try!" The girl snatched the candy from his hand without any hesitation and popped one into her mouth. "Do you think you're good at lying?"

He lowered his head, looking at his shadow on the ground.

“A new cake shop opened nearby,” the girl suddenly said. “I heard the cakes are pretty good.”

"ah?"

"If you treat me, I'll tell you what's trending right now." She smiled broadly, her expression one of complete confidence.

The two entered the bakery, and the girl ordered fifteen or sixteen different cakes in one go. Although Feng Nian'en felt that this was too much, she didn't dare to object. In the end, she was satisfied, but she insisted that they all be packed up.

"Let's go, let's eat at your place."

"ah?"

"What do you mean, 'Oh'? Look at your clothes. If people see me eating with someone dressed like this, they'll laugh themselves to death."

Feng Nian'en frowned, looked down at her T-shirt. Wearing a fat Doraemon on her body was a bit inappropriate, but it didn't have to be this ridiculous.

"Stop looking, just pay!"

He paid for the food, carrying the bag of snacks he had bought in one hand and the cake he had just bought in the other, and returned to his residence with the girl.

Chapter Seven

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"It's quite clean." The girl looked around Feng Nian'en's place while taking out a cigarette. "But why are all the curtains drawn? What, is some young lady peeking at you from across the street?"

He turned on the light: "It's just... I don't really like sunlight."

"No wonder your face is so pale. Oh my, it's even red. Could there really be a young lady here?" she said, pulling back the curtains and looking outside. "What? Just like my house, it faces the main street."

"Since we're neighbors, it's the same for everyone. Do you want to eat the cake now, or take it home later?"

"Ah..." she exclaimed as she ran to the dining table, "I almost forgot."

The girl ate her cake, occasionally taking a puff of her cigarette. Feng Nian'en watched her curiously.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. It's just that it's a little strange that you're eating cake and smoking at the same time."

"What's so strange about that? Don't you guys also like to smoke while on the toilet?"

Feng Nian'en blushed, almost choking on her own saliva.

Am I wrong?

“No, I don’t know.” He stood up and drew the curtains.

"Come on, don't tell me you've never done it before."

He shook his head: "No, I don't smoke."

"You don't smoke?" Her expression was as if she were looking at some strange animal.

"Well, apart from taking one puff out of curiosity when I was a kid, I've never smoked it again."

Why?

“Because…” he looked at the white smoke drifting from her hand, “because it’s very bitter.”

"Bitter?" The girl was taken aback, then took two hard drags and laughed loudly, "Fool! That's the taste I want. Just like this cake, what would it be if it wasn't sweet? Of course, there are salty ones too, but I don't consider those to be cakes. Cakes are supposed to be sweet, and cigarettes are supposed to be bitter. I don't want cakes that aren't sweet enough or cigarettes that aren't bitter enough!"

Feng Nian'en blinked. He rarely ate cakes or cigarettes, but watching her puff out smoke while eating cake, it seemed like the most delicious thing in the world. He licked his lips and picked up a piece as well. It was sweet, soft, and had a slightly grainy texture, but after a few bites, he felt a little nauseous.

He opened his eyes wide and saw her eat one piece after another, and in no time she had eaten five pieces. He looked suspiciously at the half piece he still had in his hand. Was this the only sweet one?

Why are you looking at me like that?

"It's nothing, I just think you seemed to be enjoying your meal."

“Of course!” the girl said proudly. “Cigarettes and cake have always been my favorites!”

In the end, the girl ate eleven of the fifteen cakes on her own, while Feng Nian'en barely managed to finish the last one.

"We'll talk about the other three after I finish this cigarette." She leaned back in her chair and pulled out another cigarette. "Why are you staring so wide-eyed?"

"It's nothing."

"Hmph, you must be thinking you've never seen a woman who can eat so much, right?"

"No." Feng Nian'en poured her a glass of water. "The cake wasn't very big, and you didn't eat much. It's just so sweet, don't you find it cloying?"

"Silly girl! If you like it, everything is good. Hey, why are you giving the creditor plain water? Don't you have any soda?"

"No."

"What about the beer?"

No, not at all.

"Whatever you have here, I'll take it even if it's just damn coffee!"

"Sorry, we only have plain water."

The girl swore. "I've never seen such a bookworm as you." She muttered as she picked up her water glass. "I hate plain water the most. It has no taste at all. Even poison tastes better."

"You drank poison?" Feng Nian'en asked with a smile.

"I took sleeping pills."

"Sleeping pills?"

"Yes, soak it in a kettle and boil it on the fire," she said casually.

Feng Nian'en looked at her; it should be a joke, but it also felt like the truth.

"Just kidding, you idiot." The girl chuckled. "It's a miracle you've lived this long."

He blinked and didn't say anything more.

"Okay, okay, I'm just kidding. Let's talk about what cartoon characters are most popular right now."

It was only when he mentioned this that Feng Nian'en remembered that this was his original purpose, but he had forgotten it because of the girl's interference, but he felt a little relieved.

"Do you know Shin-chan?" the girl asked, giving him a disdainful look.

"Be careful? Be careful of what?"

"Idiot! It's Crayon Shin-chan! The most popular cartoon character right now, loved not only by kids but also by many adults! Don't you see his image everywhere? I don't believe you can't find clothes with Shin-chan's face printed on them at the place that sells Doraemon costumes!"

"Was it that—the chubby little boy in the red clothes?" he asked uncertainly, trying to recall.

"At least it didn't come out of a cave."

"Do the children like him?" he pondered. If so, perhaps he should do some research to avoid being unable to communicate with them. From what had just happened, he already knew that children today were not what he had imagined.

As if sensing his thoughts, the girl tilted her head: "Do you have VCDs?"

"We have a computer. What do you want to watch?"

“Let’s go,” she said, standing up and pulling him outside.

"What are you doing?" Not wanting to shake her off, he quickly adjusted his pace and let her pull on his clothes as she rushed outside.

"Rent DVDs, otherwise how can we know what kind of images kids like these days?"

The two went to a nearby video store and brought back dozens of CDs.

It was past seven o'clock, and the spring night had already fallen dark.

"Aren't you going home?" Feng Nian'en asked, stepping on the blue-purple sycamore blossoms.

"What, you think I'm useless, so you're kicking me out?"

"No, of course not. It's just that your parents aren't worried."

"Ha, don't worry! They haven't come back yet. Didn't you see the lights aren't on?" she said, wrinkling her nose.

"but……"

"Hey! I'm not afraid, what are you afraid of? Even if I were a werewolf, it's not a full moon today."

Helpless, Feng Nian'en had no choice but to open the door and go inside with her again.

For the next two hours, Feng Nian'en's eyes remained wide open. The little boy in the red shirt, who was sometimes rolling around and sometimes wiggling his bottom, completely overturned his impression of children.

"It can't be real, it can't be real. Real kids are definitely not like this." He couldn't help but mutter to himself when he saw Shin-chan secretly touching a girl's thigh while grinning foolishly.

"Fake?" The girl glanced at him. "Have you forgotten those two children from today?"

"But, how could someone so young understand something like this...?" he said, shaking his head. Kids these days might be more mischievous, but they certainly wouldn't be like those in the movie.

“What’s wrong with being small? Does being small mean being pure? And this thing isn’t exactly impure, is it? Didn’t you hear Freud say that humans have sexual awareness from birth? Even an infant will feel pleasure if you touch their genitals.”